Florida's real tragedy

Khadijat  Ahmed
Eng.112
9/13/ 2017

                Florida races to check nursing homes after 8 residents found dead in Irma's wake

           This is a news about the death of eight residents of an assisted living facility in Florida due to power outage during the recent hurricane.
 Residents numbered 122 were evacuated from two assisted- living centers near Orlando that had been without power since Hurricane Irma.
Other Assisted facilities tried to avoid similar tragedies by dampening cloths  and keeping the residents cool until power is restored back.
The tragedy happened at a Rehabilitation center at Hollywood Hills which had been left without air conditioning during the Hurricane.

    I wholeheartedly agree with the Governor of Florida Rick Scott who said it was"  unfathomable", apparently there is no evidence that a 911 call was placed to report that the elderly residents were in any distress. This indeed is inexcusable since a lot of people who work in Health Care are aware that during extreme heat or cold, the elderly and young children are vulnerable and much more at risk of falling ill or dying. According to the Florida Health Care Association, 81 nursing homes lacked power as of  Wednesday night.

In another town, Coral Gables, an apartment building with elderly tenants was evacuated because officials deemed it unsafe because of lack of power.
One resident retirement community in Pembroke Pines with 15,000 residents had rescue workers going from door to door in the 94 degree heat checking on residents and providing ice, water and food.

It is important to note that , the elderly who do not live in an assisted facility or community will get help from families, attentive neighbors and local authorities.
A 94 year old resident of Naples Mary Dellaratta left her condo hours before the Hurricane hit with the help of the local police and came back with a police deputy after the storm, another officer brought her food. Mary has no family living in Florida and feels lonely.

  Although a few number of people have had power restored back , it will be a while before the remaining 6.8 million people across the peninsula have any electricity.
   
      Work Cited
Steinbuch, Yaron
http://nypost.com/2017/09/14/florida-races-to-check-nursing-homes-after-8-residents-found-dead-in-irmas-wake/. 14 Sept. 2017.